Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
Every morning, Sherri Anderson, checks the tapwater in her Botwood home to see if it's clear. More often than not, she says, it isn't. "When it's not, my husband runs the hose outside and lets the water run for hours, sometimes more than a day, until the water is clear," she told CBC News in a recent interview. Those were the instructions she received from the town council.
Anyone who has stood fully dressed in the shower, scrubbing away annoying calcium build up, knows Calgary has hard water. The high concentration of minerals in the water is also responsible for spotty dishes, stiff laundry, icky soap scum and eroded tea kettles, not to mention dry skin and limp hair. Luckily, hard water isn’t unhealthy, but it can be a drain on the pocketbook.
